♪ fast forward a few years, and now he is writing this, and i quote, "you may not wear a suit for your job or for an event or occasion, but if you do, i would strongly recommend you wear someone else's suits. i for one will never set foot in a men's warehouse, even for shelter from a blizzard. i absolutely guarantee it." now, keep in mind, this is on the megadeath facebook page. men's warehouse responded in the comment section and offered him an apology. we e-mailed the company for a statement, but they didn't respond. maybe they only like to tweet pioneers of thrash speed metal, which i totally get, but for those who like to rock, whether it's alone, in your garage, on stage front of screaming fans, or at a men's warehouse in utah, we salute you.

that does it for us. "erin burnett outfront" starts now. "outfront" next, insurance giant aig got a $182 billion taxpayer bailout. you may remember that. you were probably angry about it. now they're thanking america and they might sue us. plus new information about the aurora theater massacre. details of an elaborate trap and bizarre trap set by the alleged shooter that may give a window into the troubled state of his mind. and demonstrations raging in southeast asia in response to the brutal rape and murder of a 23-year-old indian woman. padma speaks out about the attack. let's go "outfront." good evening. i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, thank you, america. insurance giant aig says it's very grateful for the $182 billion in taxpayer money that

saved it from i don't even know if bankruptcy's the right word. how about complete and utter obliteration at the height of the financial crisis. aig of course has become a symbol of the financial meltdown of 2008 so it's nice that they are now running ads to thank taxpayers for all that money. >> we repaid every dollar america lent to us. >> everything plus a profit of more than $22 billion. >> for the american people. >> thank you, america. >> thank you, america. but now we may sue you. they left that part out. aig's board tomorrow morning is going to be deciding whether or not to join a $25 billion lawsuit against the government for rescuing the company. let me just explain. here's why. taxpayers profited from the deal. that may surprise you but it is true. frankly it surprised a whole lot of people in the financial world who thought it would never happen. they did. now, that's the $22.7 billion that was just mentioned in that ad. but shareholders including aig's former boss, hank greenberg, say

taxpayers profited because the deal terms weren't fair. michael waldman is from the nyu school of law. michael, let me start with this. the treasury ended up owning almost all of aig. nobody thought they were going to pay this money back. so they shocked everybody by doing so but the lawsuit says you can't take private property for public use without just compensation. that's the fifth amendment. they're saying the compensation was not just. you're a lawyer. does aig have a case? >> i'm a lawyer and a taxpayer and this is the legal technical latin term for this would be chutzpa if they did bring this suit. bottom line is the board of aig in the middle of this financial calamity had a choice. they could take the bailout or the value of their shares as you said would vanish and shareholders would be left with nothing. so they chose the bailout. they don't actually have to bring the suit. i would be frankly quite

surprised if they did. hank greenberg was the former ceo, he was forced out, he's sort of disgruntled -- >> he has a personal connection to this. >> he's making a presentation to their board saying you need to join this suit. they may feel they have a legal obligation to hear him out but they don't have a legal obligation to do it and they are even allowed to kind of snicker behind their hands at the time. >> unfortunate timing of the ad. steven, the lawsuit contends the government's a loan shark. the lawsuit hank greenberg -- >> they said that many times. >> 14.5%. lot of people watching might say all right, if i didn't know it was aig and it was me i would think that was a loan shark rate but just looking at the effective rate at that time to even borrow money for companies rated poorly but not horribly, companies in better shape than aig, they were borrowing at 18%. the way i see it is 14.5% was a steal. what do you mean, you didn't get just compensation? >> i'm a taxpayer, too, and i didn't like bailouts. i didn't like this one. it certainly smells bad. it certainly seems ungrateful to taxpayers that there's this

lawsuit. but let's look at what they're basically alleging. the shareholders are saying look, we weren't actually -- we might have come out better in bankruptcy if we had gone through a formal bankruptcy hearing, our shares might have been worth more than they were in this case, and that they never really actually got to vote on this because the government took over 80% control of the organization. so that's the allegation, that shareholders' interests weren't really fully protected. >> i think that's crazy. i have to say. i think that aig, i mean, the whole financial system could have crashed. those guys are lucky to have gotten anything. that's one person's opinion from covering that story. >> right. but you never really know. i think they're making the case if we had gone through a normal bankruptcy proceeding, that it wouldn't -- the value of the shares wouldn't have gone down to zero and who knows. but that's their allegation. >> okay.

i know you don't like bailouts so you have to say that. i think that's crazy. >> the gumption of arguing that. the fact is we all saw it in realtime. this wasn't a normal company in a normal situation, that might have been the case, but this was the world -- aig and the world financial system hurtling toward oblivion and there's a really, really powerful lengthy opinion by judge engelmyer, very well respected federal judge, which dismissed this case very witheringly and said the allegations made by mr. greenberg read like they were in an oliver stone movie. it's pretty clear that look, the board of directors had an obligation to act on behalf of the company and the shareholders but they were within their power, it would seem, to say that the shareholders would benefit from the bailout as opposed to the nuclear explosion. >> one final point. is this going to open up the door to newly sworn in senator elizabeth warren? >> not my favorite senator. >> she's on the banking committee. >> she will have a field day with this. >> she said the government provides an ongoing stealth

bailout to aig with special tax breaks. so aig, even if they don't join the suit, and they're saying thank you and paid everything back with interest, they're now suddenly in the spotlight again. does this mean elizabeth warren is going to get a green light? >> i don't know what special interest tax break she's talking about. i don't like corporate loopholes any more than anybody, as we talked about last night. we'll see if they're there. this is going to be a very difficult case for aig to win, both in court and in the court of public opinion. >> if this gets before congress you will finally see a return of bipartisanship. >> you may be right about that one. >> if this is what it takes, then i'll take it. >> but you know, the big winner here actually was the federal government. the federal government actually made a lot of money on this transaction. i think that's actually one of -- >> hank paulson and tim geithner in the darkest moments when people thought they couldn't get money out of the atm, put terms on it. president obama's pick for defense secretary got a ringing endorsement today. the problem was, it came from the islamic republic of iran. plus, the president cleans out his cabinet and all of his

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our second story "outfront" iran in chuck hagel's corner. the defense minister applauding president obama's pick for the defense chief, saying we hope there will be practical changes in america's foreign policy and washington becomes respectful of the rights of nations. hagel's comments about iran have become lightning rods. critics point back to his push in 2005 for direct negotiations with iran and to his past statements like in 2006, when he said i would say that a military strike against iran, a military option, is not a viable feasible responsible option. i believe a political settlement will be the answer. 2005 and 2006 was a long time ago. his views have tempered perhaps, who knows. "outfront" tonight, peter brooks, former assistant secretary of defense and john avlon. let me start with you, peter. obviously the iranian government loves to get involved in these things at times and stir the pot. they seem to love to do that. but how much does this seeming endorsement affect this potential nomination? >> well, i guess you have to ask

the senate. i doubt very much that they'll take the ayatollah's advice -- take it under advisement, i suppose. i don't think it will have much at all. senator hagel had some views about iran in the next couple weeks, i suppose we're going to have another airing of those views and i'm sure it's a very important question that senators are lining up to ask him. >> so john, let me ask you. chuck hagel has a long record of talking about this and he said that in 2005 and 2006, but here's what he said just last year in an op-ed about iran written with four other political leaders in the "washington post." our position is fully consistent with the policy of presidents for more than a decade of keeping all options on the table, including the use of military force, thereby increasing the pressure on iran while working toward a political solution. so still saying he wants a political solution but military option on the table. so what is that, when you pull all that together, is this a guy who changed his point of view? >> that is a mainstream position, one the president has

articulated. clearly in the mainstream of american foreign policy. what's important to note about the comments hagel made in 2006 and 2007 and his memoir, 2008, it's in the context of someone who has been a consistent conservative, a vietnam vet who felt burned by america's venture into iraq when we started getting all the information, and he started saying look, we blundered into this war because of flawed intelligence, because of ideology and in that context he was saying war with iran should not be our first option. that is not in america's interests. what's extraordinary to me is how that perspective, that consistent small government conservatism is being called out of the mainstream by some in the conservative movement today. it raises question about who's in the mainstream. colin powell, bob gates, frank carlucci, reagan's secretary of defense support hagel. who is outside the mainstream here? >> interesting point. peter, most people would say the united states is war-weary. if we are looking at a deadline, israel would like there to be a deadline of late spring, early summer in terms of a decision on iran. leon panetta, the defense secretary, current defense secretary, told me he thinks we have more time than that.

the u.s. isn't on the same page as israel. isn't it just the reality that america doesn't want a war at all? there wouldn't be the political will for it anyway. >> i don't think anybody does. do we ever really want war? i don't think that's the case, erin. i think the issue here is that most people don't realize that we have been negotiating with iran for nearly a decade on their nuclear program. 2003, when it was finally, the world finally became aware of iran's nuclear program which didn't come from the iranian government, by the way. it came from another group. so i mean, we've made no progress. the centrifuges keep spinning. sanctions haven't really worked. we've had -- they've had little effect, although they have some effect but no effect on changing the policy of iran. so you know, the question is can you live with a nuclear iran or are you going to have to take some sort of action, perhaps a military action, to deal with it. that's the tough question and that's a very difficult question that policy makers are going to

have to face in the coming years. the other thing is that iran is very close on having an intercontinental ballistic missile capability. the u.s. air force said publicly, and i think this is the government's position, that by 2015, we're already in 2013, that iran may have an icbm so if you put a nuclear program that everybody believes is nuclear weapons and an icbm program, that's not good news for american security. >> i want to ask a question. do you think what chuck hagel is doing is putting out the president's point of view on iran which is that he's trying to say we might need to back off a little bit? i'm asking that because of something that leon panetta said. i just want to play exactly what he said about how the u.s. disagrees with israel. i think this is new information. let's play it. >> when you look at the intelligence, you know, it can be a lot more complicated. so i would just caution everybody that the intelligence on this issue raises a lot more questions about timing and when this will happen. >> erin, what secretary panetta is saying there is that let's be

wary of false choices and timetables which is essentially the message chuck hagel has been sending for years on this. the obama administration has been pretty tough on iran behind the scenes. hagel has been consistent himself, saying look, we cannot allow a nuclear iran, war should not be our first choice, and that also is consistent with the president. the president began by thinking perhaps he could negotiate more with ahmadinejad than has proven to be the case. he's evolved on this issue. my guess is chuck hagel as secretary of defense will reflect that evolution. >> there's one other thing i want to ask you each about. this is relevant -- well, we'll ask you whether you think it's relevant in terms of timing. in terms of topic i think this is relevant. the number of sexual assaults in the military each year is about 19,000. it is a serious issue. there are women in the military now and in 1996, when running for senate, the literature from chuck hagel reportedly said quote, i am pro-life with one exception, the life of the mother. now, who knows, people agree and

disagree with that. i'm simply curious about democrats are not noticing that, talking about that. >> first, i think because it's irrelevant to the job of a secretary of defense. but it does remind us and highlight that president obama has nominated a republican, a consistent small government conservative to be secretary of defense. his position on social issues are really irrelevant to the office of secretary of defense but it's a reminder the president is trying to bridge divides and reassert the old idea that partisanship ought to end at the water's edge. >> interesting, if he says only in the life of the mother and sexual assaults are 19,000, you could have rapes and children -- >> and the secretary of defense will execute the administration's policy. >> whatever that might be. >> 100%. >> peter brooks, what's the bottom line? you think he's actually going to get this confirmation? it appears that even though there is some resistance, that it is going to be surmountable. am i wrong? >> well, i can't predict the future, but my sense is that the legislative staff and the white house probably went around and counted noses in the senate before they put his name up there. something could come up between

now and then, but my sense is they feel they have a very good chance and a democratic majority senate of getting senator hagel confirmed as the next secretary of defense. >> maybe they will sneak brennan by with all of this brouhaha going on. thanks to both of you. still to come, new developments in the aurora theater massacre. prosecutors today described a deadly trap that the shooter set to kill police officers. a crowded courtroom also heard the 911 calls from the night of the shooting. ed lavendera has the latest. >> they are saying somebody is shooting in the auditorium. >> the first 911 call came from theater nine, 18 minutes after the start of "the dark knight rises." the call lasted 27 seconds. the constant sound of boom,

boom, boom. 30 gunshots in the call alone. six minutes later, the shots had stopped. a teenaged relative of veronica mosier sullivan in tears. the girl struggles to explain veronica can't breathe. the kiss patcher says tells her to start cpr. the teenager says i can't hear you. it's an exkrugsiating phone call. some wish that james holmes would simply plead guilty. >> i would like to see them throw him in a room with a toilet and nothing else, a window that he can at least see the day is passing and that's it. no bed, nothing.

and let him just sit with his thoughts. >> reporter: even more stunning was the most descriptive explanation yet of the boobytrap holmes left in his apartment. according to an fbi bomb technician, he mixed and created the explosive chemicals himself, including explosive powders and live ammunition, and homemade napalm. he saturated his carpet in gasoline and oil and rigged an elaborate system of containers to explode. >> you're talking about that he rigged that elaborate system to explode. the way he did that was really bizarre and when i saw kind of what he did and what he thought might happen, i don't know, it gave a sense of how deviant his mind is. can you tell everyone about that? >> reporter: absolutely. remember, all of this, he had hoped, would have gone off before he started shooting in the theater to distract first responders, take them to his apartment and then several miles away, he would be entering the movie theater. there were a couple ways to trigger these explosive devices, the ieds. one would have been by opening the door which would hit a trip wire and cause chemicals to mix, exploding on to the floor and

causing the entire apartment to explode. another one which was i thought stunning, we had not heard this, was that there was a pyrotechnic remote control device on top of the refrigerator connected to canisters and jars on the ground in the living room which was then connected to a boom box he had put in a white trash bag outside of the apartment building with a remote control car and he had hoped, he had told the fbi technician that he was being interviewed by, the remote control device he had hoped would start playing music about 40 minutes after he left really loud, that somebody would come by, pick up the remote control and start playing with it and then that would not really control the car, it would trigger the device inside the apartment. that never happened. ironically, investigators found the boom box but never found the remote control car. >> it was just so bizarre when i read that about that he had that remote control car and hoped someone would just pick it up and play with it. how did prosecutors use this evidence of the way he thought

the apartment would explode to try to paint a picture of his state of mind? >> reporter: well, couple different things going on here. prosecutors are really trying to show in this preliminary hearing, anticipating that james holmes' attorneys will use some sort of mental health defense here down the road so they're trying to show that look, this isn't just some guy who snapped in the early morning hours of july 20th, decided to walk in a movie theater and start killing people. that this was an elaborate plan that he spent weeks and months planning. all of these materials according to investigators who testified, he made himself. he spent weeks buying the ammunition, 6300 rounds, and all of the weaponry used, and what's interesting is that defense attorneys, when they get a chance to talk and cross examine these witnesses, they focus especially today on the demeanor after he was arrested and they asked one of the detectives how james holmes acted after he had been taken into custody, and the detective told the story about

how the detectives had put paper bags over his hands to preserve any evidence on his fingertips and fingers, and at one point he started picking up the paper bags and started using them as hand puppets, talking back and forth to each other although there are many relatives and victims' family members who say they believe james holmes is simply putting on an act. >> thanks very much, ed. big decision whether this trial goes ahead or not. coming up later, some say he's hiring too many white men. point blank. where are the binders of women? later, a dispute over a marriage dowry in saudi arabia has sparked outrage. the man is 70. his bride, 15. citracal slow release continuously releases calcium plus d with efficient absorption in one daily dose. citracal slow release. your doctor will say get smart about your weight. that's why there's glucerna hunger smart shakes. they have carb steady, with carbs that digest slowly to help minimize blood sugar spikes. [ male announcer ] glucerna hunger smart. a smart way to help manage hunger and diabetes.

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welcome back to the second half of "outfront." we start with stories we care about where we focus on reporting from the front lines. the only known person that has been held in connection with the attack on the american consulate in libya has been released by a judge in tunisia. the news agency in tunisia reports he was questioned as a witness, not a suspect, but an american federal law enforcement official tells susan candiotti the freed man remains a suspect. the official says investigators have identified 15 other individuals that he believes will eventually be indicted. cnn contributor tom fuentes says bringing any suspects to justice will be very difficult because of the chaos in the aftermath of the attack. he says the fbi also lacks a strong investigative partner in libya. for the second day in a row the same airline, the same boston airport, is having a problem with boeing's dream

liner. this is japan airlines. there was a flight carrying 181 people. it was turned around after the cockpit crew discovered the 787 was leaking fuel. yesterday, an apparent electrical fire sent smoke through a different dream liner. boeing analyst carter league tells "outfront" that electrical problems are to be expected on new planes. monday's fire appeared unrelated to problems it had before. the company didn't have an immediate comment on today's fuel spill and this follows the fact the dream liner has been delayed again and again and again. many airlines are already angry it's taken this long to get delivery. the irs will begin processing tax returns for most filers on january 30th. that's actually eight days later than you usually could do it. the reason the irs moved the date is because, oh, yeah, congress, it took you too long to pass the new tax provisions. we asked our tax strike team member martin sullivan of tax analyst what part of the tax legislation will have the biggest effect on the average

2012 return. most of these laws are 2013. he said the amt patch, that 30 million people, 30 million of you out there, are going to be saved from the amt and that is why the irs had to cause the delay. white house officials say the united states could pull every single troop out of afghanistan after 2014 when the nato mission officially ends. the white house deputy national security advisor ben rhodes said the administration has been considering a range of troop levels in afghanistan and that one of them is zero troops. zero troops. the latest assessment from general john allen, the top american commander in afghanistan, is to keep between 6,000 and 15,000 troops in afghanistan. last month i asked defense secretary leon panetta in kabul when we're finally going to get word on troop level numbers and he told me sometime soon. it's been 523 days since this country lost its top credit rating. an index that tracks small business sentiment registered its second lowest reading since

march of 2010. fiscal cliff was the problem. so maybe it's backward looking, maybe they're happier. i don't know. we can hope. now our fifth story "outfront" -- fourth story "outfront." the white house boys club. white boys club. after being propelled to a re-election with the help of women and minority voters, the nation's first black president appears to be stacking his second term cabinet with white men. the president's choice for treasury secretary is expected to be jack lee. that's after nominating john kerry for state, chuck hagel for defense and john brennan for cia chief. obviously as you can see, they are all white men. with hillary clinton exiting the state department and lisa jackson stepping down as head of the epa, the obama administration's at a net loss when it comes to women and minorities in the cabinet. "outfront" tonight, roland martin, rosa brooks, and reihan salam. rosa, let me start with you. this is a president who campaigned aggressively on women's reproductive rights and equal pay for equal work. it was a big part of his

campaign. he won the women's vote by double digits over mitt romney. should the president be asking for something that he mocked, i.e., binders of women? >> i'm tempted to send him a few binders. i know a lot of fantastic women. i think this isn't an issue of affirmative action here. this is an issue of having to reach far down in order to find a woman who is a little bit less qualified than man and putting her up there. this is a question of you got a bunch of equally qualified people, one of whom is a democratic woman in a lot of these cases, why are we not trying to put those women in these positions. >> roland, this is pretty interesting. jay carney, white house spokesman, said we want the best person for the job, and we value diversity. obviously so far, they have picked all white men. is the truth just that the president is saying look, in these cases, the best person is white and male, or is rosa right?

they are equally qualified women or minorities for these jobs? >> first, they have tons of qualified people out there. for any of these particular jobs. the senior officials i talked to on my way over here said look at the totality of our cabinet, not just the national security team. they haven't made all those announcements yet. attorney general eric holder was the first african-american. he's likely going to continue. you did see lisa jackson step down. you also had ron kirk, we'll see whether or not he stays in that job. hilda solis was a latino woman, whether or not she will continue as secretary of labor. those are there. also, i find it to be interesting. i went to the national organization of women website. when ambassador susan rice was being attacked, they weren't rising to her defense. her name was the only one of the national security team being floated out there and you would have thought they would have come to her defense. a group of black women, national black womens roundtable stepped out there. you had the congressional black caucus.

where was n.o.w. when they could have defended susan rice and kept her name alive to be nominee as secretary of state? >> the susan rice contrast is a very interesting one for a number of reasons. one of them is that susan rice technically took herself out of contention but there was a perception that she had been abandoned by the white house. whereas chuck hagel, a ton of people not only on the political right were raising objections to hagel and yet the white house hung tough on behalf of hagel which is very telling, i would suggest. i think when you're looking at senator kerry and senator hagel, you are looking at two people who served as mentors to president obama when he first entered the senate, with whom he feels he has a shared world view. let's not forget that president obama had been praised for his team of rivals, that his having diverse voices, when he first came into office, so there's a question of whether or not he's

stepping away from that. rosa brooks hasn't just talked about diversity and representativeness in the cabinet. she has also talked about deeper problems with president obama's national security team and his national security approach. i wonder if this is emblematic of a deeper problem. >> now that there's a scrutiny and you know, i understand roland's point about the cabinet overall, but defense secretary and epa chief are two very different things in the public eye in terms of the attention that they get, the authority that they have. at this point, would a woman want to be nominated? if the president comes out for the next thing and nominates a woman, is she going to feel whether it's true or not, everyone will think she's just getting it because she's a woman? >> it's possible but i think it wouldn't be true. i think there are fantastic women out there. i think that they know that they're good and they are good. there would be plenty of people who would rise to their defense. i think that that earlier point is a really important one. this isn't just about being nice

to women or something. there's a ton of evidence out there that if you have more diverse decision making groups, they make better, smarter decisions. they make more creative decisions. they are more likely to think of a lot of alternatives. if you have a homogenous group, you get worse decision making. a real problem for many presidents is getting into a bubble where everybody shares your views and you are shielded from hearing what you don't like. that's what i really worry about here. >> one thing, though, also is a reality. that is groups out there who have been supportive of the president, they also can't be quiet. they also can't just sort of sit back and say well, let's see what happens. we have actually seen that, where from hispanics, african-americans, also women's groups. frederick douglass said agitate, agitate, agitate. power can seize nothing without a demand. you can't just sit here and complain after the fact. when these names are being floated, you should have seen women's groups and other groups saying we want to see these folks not just sort of lay back and see what happens. no. should be far more aggressive. >> do women, though, suffer from -- your former boss, who had been floated as a front-runner for defense secretary, had recently stepped aside from her job because she wanted to spend more time with her family. leon panetta flew home every weekend to see his family. it happens for men, it happens

for women. but i'm wondering, i want to play something president obama said about john brennan, his cia chief, today. let me play that and then i will explain why i did. here it is. >> john is legendary even in the white house for working hard. he is one of the hardest working public servants i have ever seen. i'm not sure he's slept in four years. >> rosa, it's true, this is the kind of person the president wants, someone who doesn't have a family, who doesn't have anything else to do but work. >> to me, that -- obviously, president obama is saying that for effect, but i don't want a secretary of defense who never sleeps. i want a guy who gets some rest every now and then because those are pretty important decisions that person is going to have to make, and the same way i don't want a pilot flying who hasn't had any sleep and i don't want a neurosurgeon operating on me who hasn't had any sleep. it's better for national security to have people who are rested. i'm serious about this. i think this often gets -- we get into this fantasy of oh, well, the world never sleeps so we're so important, we're here 24/7.

that's just bad management. that's just a recipe for bad decision making and it happens to have a differential effect on women and men who want to have families as well. >> this whole family thing, let's remember, condoleezza rice wasn't married. she was secretary of state. janet napolitano -- >> that's my point. this isn't gender. people who don't have families tend to get those jobs and perform well. >> look, it happens. bottom line is when you're in these political roles, guess what, people are absolutely consumed by these jobs, whether it's men or women, whether they are white, whether they are black. so be it. that's the nature of these jobs. >> all right. thanks very much to all. we appreciate it. let us know what you think about this. i hope many people have passionate views on it and share them with us. "outfront" next more than 100 fires in australia are raging, threatening hundreds of homes, thousands of people and sparking a revolution. i'm from india. while it didn't surprise me, it disgusted me. unstuff your nose. what?

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we're back with tonight's outer circle, where we reach out to our sources around the world. tonight, we go to australia. more than 130 fires are raging in new south wales. many are fearing a repeat of 2009's black saturday, which was a series of bush fires in which 173 people were killed and destroyed thousands of homes. as temperatures soar to 109 degrees, officials are warning residents that the risk is real and potentially deadly. we are at fire service

headquarters in sydney tonight. how widespread are these fires? >> reporter: these fires basically are almost australia-wide. at the weekend, they hit tasmania and this heat wave really moved up through victoria, up to new south wales, and this heat threat is now moving into southeastern queensland. yet to see if any of those fires eventuate in queensland. you would certainly expect so. in tasmania, the threat was very true there because 100 homes were lost. in victoria, there were reports of up to 20 homes and in new south wales, no confirmed home losses at the moment, thankfully and most importantly, no lives have been lost. >> i know there's obviously a concern that there could be a loss of life if these fires continue. what is the australian government doing about this? >> reporter: there certainly is concern and obviously we learned a lot of lessons since the 2009 black saturday fires. in terms of fires that are actually going on at the moment, obviously they are being fought

on the ground and in the air by firefighters, many of them volunteers here in australia and obviously, the fire bombing from aircraft to try to get the fires under control. we also have back burning operations in areas that are yet to be hit where it is safe to do so where fires are burning because the australian bush obviously just burns so easily in these conditions. very dry and the trees have that oil that just seems to burn and combust that way. we have undercover police at several locations looking out for any arsonist activity which unfortunately, is a real threat, and luckily, we've had no lightning which can of course also cause the bush fires. people in their own home as well, their fire preparations

which hopefully in most cases have been prepared long before this, everybody should have a fire plan if they live in any bush fire prone areas which a lot of people do across australia, of course, so they can defend their homes. >> thank you very much. now our fifth story "outfront," international outrage. protesters have taken to the streets of nepal today demanding better protection for women. the demonstrations are in response to the brutal gang rape and murder of a 23-year-old indian woman by five men and a teenager in new delhi last month. the story has grabbed the world's attention and it has prompted condemnation. among those speaking out tonight is padma lakshmi, best known as the host of "top chef" in the u.s. padma was born in india. a lot of her family still lives there. she ca "outfnttok out the story for the first . i ker w e felt when she first heard the news. >> i was saddened and i was sickened. i literally felt nauseous. i'm from india and while it didn't surprise me, it disgusted me and it reminded me, brought back to me all of those feelings of when i was walking in delhi

and the minute i read about this, my mind immediately went back to i remember going to the market to get vegetables for my aunt, who had run out of cilantro or something. i said we'll go get it. me and my cousin went to get it and it was literally before 6:00 p.m. and we were leered at and we really felt intimidated. this was not, you know, routine guys kind of whistling. this was much more aggressive and intimidating than that. and that happens every day. i used to ride the bus in india to school and i hated it, i hated going on a crowded bus, because they would always pinch you or grab you and you know, when you're a teenager, i went to school some years in india and it was terrible. >> so i mean, that literally would happen on the bus, men would grab you and touch you? >> sometimes, yeah. i mean, look, they have reserved seating for women on buses. that gives you an idea of the problem. you never feel safe.

like you never feel like oh, i should just, you know, walk where i want, because it's my right. doesn't matter what your technical legal rights are. what matters is your safety and you just don't feel like testing that. >> well, you were born in india, as you say you still have family there and spend a lot of time there. one of the things i thought was so amazing just getting ready to talk to you was you said there isn't even a word for rape in hindi. obviously the predominant language spoken in india. what does that say? >> i mean, the closest word kind of means, you know, to take someone's honor away. but to say that because a woman has been violated, she no longer has her chastity or her honor is missing the point. some of the policemen even told some of the rape victims that maybe they should consider marrying one of their rapists so that they will be able to find a husband and their honor won't be

taken from them. which is rekiidiculous. the problem is much bigger than these men or the rapes of the last five years and the lack of prosecution. it is something so intrinsic to indian culture. we like to say that india is the largest democracy and in many ways it is, but we can only consider india a true democracy when it -- when half its citizens feel safe in the streets. when they don't feel like they are vulnerable because of their gender, and when they can walk their streets and go about their business and their family in peace, and in tranquility. >> your story, padma, is so interesting. your parents divorced when you were very young. you were raised here in the united states, but in an indian home. when you walk down new dehli and

walk down the street, you know what it feels like to be hered at as a girl. >> i come from a liberal middle class family, but still it's very conservative. when i was a young girl, you know, one of the reasons my mother moved to america, there was a lot of discrimination against single women, single mothers, divorced women and she would have had a difficult life if she stayed in india. i was even concerned when i went into modeling after college because while my family accepted me, i was worried about what other people would think. 15 or 16 years ago when i started modeling, modeling was just not that far from prostitution, so you can imagine how self conscious i felt.

you can imagine, even the notion of sexual harassment is called eve teasing in india, and i think that's a very yew femmistic way to refer to a serious problem. the reason are you seeing this incredible demonstration because women feel empowered because they make their own money and own decisions to speak out. >> padma there, has been so much attention on this case, and in a sense, it seems like a blessing. terrible it's taken this long, but this becomes a moment. will there be real change? >> there may be real change, i am optimistic about that. i have to be as a woman, as an indian, and i think that the internet and these programs like you guys really help. now i think sonja and all of the rest of parliament understand the world is watching and to be truly respected as a world

power, a dominant force on this globe, which is what every indian wants whether in office or not want to tackle the subject head on and explain to the world why they're a democracy, and yet over half their citizens are abused, verbally and otherwise, assaulted, sexually and otherwise, and also discriminated against. it's in there. ingrained so deeply into our psyche, into our religious text, to break free of the bounds and ties of our ancestry, we are going to have to really look at our demons in the eye in order to extinguish them. >> thank you so much for taking the time. >> my pleasure. hopefully the next time will be on a better subject matter. >> a 70-year-old man, a bride who says she's 15. that story is "outfront" next. noaa e're helping the east coast

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a man in saudi arabia is seeking legal action against his new bride after he claims she refused to spend time with him. this despite the fact that he paid a dowry of nearly $20,000. now, this would normally, in saudi arabia, just be a dispute between families, except for this -- the man is reportedly 70 years old and his bride says she's just 15 years old. young girls being forced to marry old men is an ugly reality in much of the world, but in saudi arabia, the issue for

women is not just behind closed doors. in addition to the concealing dress which they must wear by law, women must be accompanied by a male guardian. they can be stopped forced to show papers proving their relationship with the man they are with. and the truth is, you can't leave the country as a woman unless your male guardian has signed off on it. i've seen the forms they have to provide at the airport. and when i saw it, it sent a chill down my spine. certainly, it's time for change, and how about starting with driving? saudi arabia is the only country in the world that still prohibits women from driving a car. it has been that way since 1979, far from being an edict thousands of years old, it's very recent. when i'm there, i never get used to the fact that there are only men behind the wheel. women aren't allowed to be with men they are related to in saudi arabia, except in the car, where they're driven around by ex-pats from saudi arabia, who they are not related to at all.

many women assume that the situation in saudi arabia is hopeless, but the truth is saudi arabia is primed for a great awakening. about 57% of saudi women have university degrees, most of them post-graduate. they are being given amazing educations, they just haven't had the opportunity. they make up about 15% of the labor force, and about 50% of women with ph.d degrees are not working outside the home. i spent time with incredibly driven women. they want jobs, they want family, and they want freedom. here is hoping they succeed. "piers morgan tonight" is next. with snapshot, i knew what i could save before i switched to progressive. the better i drive, the more i save. i wish our company had something this cool. you're not filming this, are you? aw! camera shy. snapshot from progressive. test-drive snapshot before you switch. visit progressive.com today.

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